Occupation Focus

Figure 1

Almost 35 million jobs, or over one-quarter of U.S. employment, are found in 15 occupations.

Employment and mean wages for the largest occupations in the United States, May 2009

Occupation

Employment

Percent of U.S. employment

Hourly mean wage

Annual mean wage

Retail salespersons

4,209,500

3.22

$11.84

$24,630

Cashiers

3,439,380

2.63

9.15

19,030

Office clerks, general

2,815,240

2.15

13.32

27,700

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food

2,695,740

2.06

8.71

18,120

Registered nurses

2,583,770

1.98

31.99

66,530

Waiters and waitresses

2,302,070

1.76

9.80

20,380

Customer service representatives

2,195,860

1.68

15.58

32,410

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

2,135,790

1.63

12.16

25,290

Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners

2,090,400

1.60

11.60

24,120

Stock clerks and order fillers

1,864,410

1.43

11.28

23,460

Secretaries, except legal, medical, and executive

1,797,670

1.38

14.93

31,060

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks

1,757,870

1.35

16.71

34,750

General and operations managers

1,689,680

1.29

53.15

110,550

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

1,550,930

1.19

18.87

39,260

Elementary school teachers, except special education

1,544,300

1.18

(1)

53,150

1 Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries, depending on how they are typically paid.

Twelve of the largest occupations
had wages below the U.S. mean
annual wage of $43,460. General and
operations managers; elementary
school teachers, except special
education; and registered nurses had
wages above the U.S. average.

The two largest occupations, retail
salespersons and cashiers, were
sales occupations. Five of the 15
largest occupations were office and
administrative support occupations,
with combined employment of over
10.4 million.

Some of the largest occupations
were concentrated in specific
industries, while others were found
in a wide variety of industries. For
example, about 75 percent of waiters
and waitresses were employed in
full-service restaurants, and nearly
all elementary school teachers
were employed in elementary and
secondary schools. General office
clerks, however, were found in
many industries, with their largest
employer—local government—
accounting for less than 7 percent of
jobs in this occupation.

Figure 2

The smallest occupations in the United States are more specialized and include
several occupations with annual mean wages of $100,000 or more.

Employment and mean wages for the smallest occupations in the United States, May 2009

Occupation

Employment

Hourly mean wage

Annual mean wage

Prosthodontists

660

$60.29

$125,400

Fabric menders, except garment

840

13.28

27,630

Radio operators

870

20.86

43,400

Locomotive firers

960

24.71

51,400

Farm labor contractors

1,000

17.37

36,130

Segmental pavers

1,040

13.81

28,730

Mathematical technicians

1,090

21.27

44,230

Geographers

1,170

34.33

71,420

Astronomers

1,240

49.40

102,740

Models

1,510

17.51

36,420

Patternmakers, wood

1,540

18.53

38,540

Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists

1,540

18.36

38,180

Animal breeders

1,700

16.93

35,210

Industrial-organizational psychologists

1,710

49.31

102,570

Model makers, wood

1,900

16.33

33,970

Makeup artists, theatrical and performance

1,930

21.64

45,010

Dredge operators

1,990

18.43

38,330

1 Omits some occupations that are concentrated in private households and the agricultural sector (except logging and support activities for crop and animal production), which are not covered by the OES survey.

The 17 occupations shown in
figure 2 accounted for less than 0.2
percent of U.S. employment.

Twelve of the 17 occupations
had wages similar to or below
the U.S. annual mean wage of
$43,460. Of the five occupations
with above-average wages, three
were life, physical, and social
science occupations: astronomers,
industrial-organizational
psychologists, and geographers.
Prosthodontists and locomotive
firers also had above-average
wages.

Several of the smallest
occupations were specialized
construction; installation,
maintenance, and repair;
production; or transportation and
material moving occupations,
including segmental pavers, fabric
menders, wood model makers, and
dredge operators.

Figure 3

Employment opportunities for people interested in repairing mechanical devices are
found in a number of related fields, each with differing ranges of remuneration.

Among the mechanics
occupations, aircraft mechanics and
service technicians had the highest
average wage at $25.47 per hour,
followed by rail car repairers at
$22.32 per hour. Bicycle repairers
and outdoor power equipment and
small engine mechanics had the
lowest average hourly wages at
$11.65 and $14.61, respectively.

Automotive service technicians
had the greatest spread in wages,
with a 10th percentile wage of $9.54
per hour and a 90th percentile
wage of $28.81.

The most common of the
mechanics occupations was
automotive service technicians,
with 606,990 workers employed
nationally. Bicycle repairers (9,290
workers) and recreational vehicle
service technicians (10,860) were
the least common.

Figure 4

Many of the largest occupations with wages near the U.S. mean
were skilled manufacturing jobs or skilled trades.

Executive secretaries and
administrative assistants and
carpenters were the two largest
occupations with mean wages
within 5 percent of the U.S. all-occupations
mean of $20.90 per
hour.

The construction and extraction
major occupational group and
the installation, maintenance, and
repair major occupational group
both had three detailed occupations
represented among the 15 largest
occupations with wages near the
U.S. mean.

Figure 5

Workers in skilled construction trade occupations earned between 34 and 83
percent more than workers in those occupations that assist them.

Mean wages were higher than
$20.00 per hour for 6 of the 11
construction trade occupations
shown, but mean wages were lower
than $15.00 per hour for all of the
accompanying helper occupations.

Although the mean wage
for plumbers, pipefitters, and
steamfitters ($23.97) was
significantly higher than the mean
wage for their helpers ($13.24), the
mean wage for pipelayers ($17.81)
was only 34 percent higher than the
helpers’ wages and represented
one of the lowest wages among
the construction trade occupations
shown.

Figure 6

Average wages varied more
among some construction trade
occupations than among helpers
for the same occupations. For
example, while electricians had
a higher mean hourly wage (by
$6.47, or 36 percent) than roofers,
electricians’ helpers had a mean
hourly wage that was only $1.69
(14 percent) higher than the wage
earned by roofers’ helpers.

Electricians; plumbers, pipefitters,
and steamfitters; and brickmasons
and block masons were among
the highest paid construction trade
occupations, and their helpers were
the highest paid helpers.

While nearly all of the
construction trade occupations
shown, including carpenters and
paperhangers, receive training
through apprenticeship programs or
have moderate-term and long-term
on-the-job training, their helpers
have only short-term on-the-job
training.

Figure 7

Occupations with higher mean and median wages had a wider distribution of wages.

Occupations with low wages had
a narrow wage range.

For example, the lowest paying
occupation shown, combined food
preparation and serving workers,
was clustered near the minimum
wage, with a median wage of $8.28
per hour.

Psychiatrists showed the largest
variability in wages, ranging from
$7.50 per hour to greater than $80
per hour.

The majority of workers within an
occupation did not earn a wage in
the closest range to the occupation
median, but within the nearest
few ranges above and below the
median. Overall, only 12 percent
of workers earned a wage in the
same range as the median, but
58 percent were within two wage
ranges above and below the range
that contains the median.

Figure 8

Three of the five occupational groups with high unemployment rates had 70 percent or more of
their employment in a single industry sector: construction and extraction, production, and food
preparation and serving related occupations.

Building and grounds cleaning
and maintenance occupations and
transportation and material moving
occupations were distributed more
evenly across industry sectors
than the other occupational
groupings. The administrative and
support services sector, which
includes janitorial services and
facilities support services, had
higher employment of building and
grounds cleaning and maintenance
occupations than any other sector,
but accounted for only 38 percent
of employment in this group.
Similarly, the largest employer of
transportation and material moving
occupations, the transportation and
warehousing sector, employed less
than 30 percent of this group.

Of the occupational groups shown
in the chart, food preparation and
serving related occupations was the
largest, with total employment of
more than 11.2 million. Production
occupations and transportation and
material moving occupations each
had employment of nearly 9 million.

Figure 9

Two of the occupational groups with low unemployment rates had their employment
concentrated in the healthcare and social assistance sector, and a third had
employment concentrated in educational services.

Total employment in education,
training, and library occupations
was approximately 8.5 million, and
total employment in healthcare
practitioner and technical
occupations was approximately 7.2
million. The remaining three groups
each had employment of less than
2 million.

Community and social services;
legal; education, training, and
library; and healthcare practitioner
and technical occupations each had
half or more of their employment
in a single industry sector. The
most concentrated group was
education, training, and library
occupations, with 89 percent of this
group employed in the educational
services sector.

Of the groups shown, the life,
physical, and social science
occupations group was the least
concentrated in a single sector.
About 29 percent of this group was
employed in professional, scientific,
and technical services, and about
23 percent in Federal, State, and
local government.

Figure 10

Political scientists had one of the highest geographic concentrations of any occupation.
About two-thirds of political scientists were employed in a single metropolitan area—Washington, D.C.

Employment, mean hourly wages, and measures of concentration for selected occupations with high geographic concentrations, May 2009

Occupation

Employment

Mean hourly wage

Herfindahl-Hirschman index

Percent of occupational employment in the 10 metropolitan or nonmetropolitan areas with highest employment of this occupation

Political scientists

3,970

$48.58

4748.9

89.2

Subway and streetcar operators

6,050

25.38

2783.8

95.9

Fashion designers

15,780

35.78

2327.8

78.0

Fabric and apparel patternmakers

6,640

20.64

1643.8

68.8

Prosthodontists

660

60.29

1357.1

80.3

Economists

13,160

46.31

1275.8

57.4

Petroleum engineers

25,540

57.67

1226.8

63.1

Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes

11,700

42.04

1123.4

68.4

Loading machine operators, underground mining

3,570

21.14

1109.1

68.4

Film and video editors

17,550

30.62

1040.3

59.1

Shuttle car operators

3,520

22.31

980.5

77.0

Gaming supervisors

24,760

23.52

889.2

57.7

Textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders

12,980

11.82

880.2

55.6

Astronomers

1,240

49.40

877.9

69.3

Segmental pavers

1,040

13.81

854.0

76.3

The figure shows some
of the most geographically
concentrated occupations, based
on the Herfindahl-Hirschman index,
commonly used to measure market
concentration among firms in an
industry. Here, high values of the
Herfindahl-Hirschman index show
that an occupation is concentrated
in just a few geographic areas,
while low values indicate the
occupation is spread more evenly
across areas.

Nearly 96 percent of subway and
streetcar operators—an occupation
associated with urban public
transportation—were employed in
just 10 metropolitan areas.

Three of the occupations with
high geographic concentrations
were associated with mining
and natural resource extraction:
petroleum engineers; loading
machine operators, underground
mining; and shuttle car operators.

Several other occupations were
associated with textile and apparel
manufacturing, including fashion
designers and fabric and apparel
patternmakers.

Figure 11

Postmasters and mail superintendents was one of the most geographically
dispersed occupations. The 10 areas with the highest employment of this
occupation accounted for less than 12 percent of occupational employment.

Percent of occupational employment in the 10 metropolitan or nonmetropolitan areas with highest employment of this occupation

Postmasters and mail superintendents

24,890

$28.65

44.4

11.9

Excavating and loading machine and dragline operators

57,990

18.53

55.7

14.2

Agricultural inspectors

14,030

20.12

58.4

15.0

Highway maintenance workers

139,490

16.98

59.5

15.6

Electrical power-line installers and repairers

108,980

26.86

59.6

16.1

Outdoor power equipment and other small engine mechanics

26,010

14.61

60.2

16.2

Water and liquid waste treatment plant and system operators

109,090

19.99

60.6

16.9

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood

41,750

13.12

63.9

15.0

Fish and game wardens

7,530

26.42

65.2

17.4

Cooks, institution and cafeteria

383,540

11.48

65.5

18.0

Foresters

10,230

26.55

66.9

15.9

Correctional officers and jailers

455,350

20.49

68.3

16.7

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators

368,200

21.24

69.4

19.2

Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks

224,360

10.16

70.1

19.4

Conservation scientists

16,810

29.41

71.9

19.8

Several of the occupations
shown have job duties specifically
associated with building,
maintaining, and operating utilities
and other infrastructure, including
highway maintenance workers,
electrical power line installers and
repairers, and water and liquid
waste treatment plant and system
operators. Two other occupations—
excavating and loading machine
and dragline operators, and
operating engineers and other
construction equipment operators—
also had significant employment
in utility systems construction
and highway, street, and bridge
construction.

The figure also includes three
occupations associated with natural
resource preservation: foresters,
fish and game wardens, and
conservation scientists.